


Herbal Tea

by AnnaSayre



Series: Destiel Ficlets [6]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fallen Castiel, Fluff, Human Castiel, M/M, Motherhen!Dean, sick!Cas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-04
Updated: 2015-07-04
Packaged: 2018-04-07 16:37:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4270407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaSayre/pseuds/AnnaSayre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cas gets sick, Dean panics, and Sam watches quietly from the sidelines.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Herbal Tea

**Author's Note:**

> This was actually one of the first ever fics I've written for these two idiots. Since then I've written a lot more, and have found my footing a lot better. Because of that, I don't actually like this one too much but a dear friend practically threatened to kill me if I took it down, so here it is.

“Heya Cas,”

Dean nudged open the bedroom door with his shoulder, stopping to blink for a second as his eyes adjusted to the drastic decline of light. The curtains were drawn over the windows and all the lights were off.

Dean stared for a moment at the lump of Castiel underneath the dark comforter. The only sign that the falling angel was even there was the patch of dark hair sticking out from under the covers and the deep, lengthy groan he received in response to flicking on the overhead light. “Everything alright?” Dean asked curiously, taking a careful seat on the edge of the bed. It wasn’t unusual for Cas to sleep these days. It was, however, unusual for him to be sleeping at one in the afternoon. Cas was always the first one awake.

Castiel groaned again and Dean couldn’t help but frown. He reached over and gently pulled the blanket away from Cas’ face, placing the back of his hand lightly against his forehead. He almost pulled away at the insane amount of heat coming from Cas’ skin, but Cas beat him to it, flinching violently away from Dean’s fingers and blinking blearily up at him.

“I think I might be sick.” Cas stated, with a slight cough and a shiver. Instead of thinking about how a sore throat made Castiel’s voice even deeper and raspier than should ever be allowed, Dean barked out a laugh and patted where he thought Cas’ shoulder might be.

“I’ll be right back.” Dean went into the bathroom and grabbed a bottle of Aspirin from the cabinet before going into the kitchen and pouring a glass of water, making sure it wasn’t too cold. “Looks like we’ve got a sick Cas on our hands.” he stated as Sam watched him from the doorway.

“Will Aspirin even work? I mean... he’s still kind of an angel. He hasn’t fallen completely...”

Dean hadn’t actually thought of that. With Cas basically half human and half angel at the moment, Dean had no idea what would work and what wouldn’t. But he would have healed himself by now if he could, right? If the angel in him was stronger, he wouldn’t have gotten sick in the first place.

“I don’t know, man, but he’s got a major fever. He feels like he’s on fire.”

Dean began boiling a pot of water, reaching in the cabinet next to the stove to find Sam’s herbal tea. Dean hated the shit - it smelled nasty and tasted like straight up dirt, in his opinion, but with some lemon and honey added to it, he figured it might be a little more bearable and besides, Cas had a sore throat and this would definitely help with that.

He balanced the glass, coffee mug and medication easily in his arms and shouldered open Cas’ door again. The lump was exactly as Dean had left it. He took a seat back on the edge of the bed and and placed the water and steaming tea on the nightstand, opening the Aspirin easily and shaking out two white tablets. Cas peered up at him through the pile of blankets, watching him curiously.

“Do you uh - are you feeling nauseous at all?”

Cas considered the question, his brows furrowing. “I don’t know.” Right. Angel.

“Sit up for me?” Dean asked, reaching out as Cas struggled to comply. He put an arm awkwardly around Cas’ shoulder to help him. When Cas was situated against the headboard, Dean handed him the medicine. “Swallow these. Hopefully they’ll help your fever go down. You gotta drink this, too, so you don’t get dehydrated.”

He took the tablets from Dean and looked at them examining them closely. “What happens if I don’t?” It was moments like these that reminded Dean just how not human Castiel really was. He genuinely didn’t know what would happen when he was sick, because he’d never had to deal with being sick before.

“Um, well, if your fever gets high enough your body will basically go into a seizure which is scary as fuck and if you get dehydrated, you’ll end up passing out and we’d have to end up calling an ambulance, and hospitals aren’t really that fun to hang out in, not to mention they’d do blood tests and would a needle even break through your skin? And I don’t even know what would show up when they looked at your blood and then-”

“Dean,” Cas had a slight smile on his face, and looked at like him like his slight anxiety over this situation was the most adorable thing in the world or some shit. Dean ducked his head.

“Uh, anyway, you gotta keep drinking water and you gotta take Aspirin every few hours. I can make you some soup just in case you are nauseous. That’s the easiest to hold down and trust me you do not wanna throw up if you can avoid it.”

He risked another glance up and Cas still had the same expression on his face. “Thank you, Dean.” his voice sounded so genuine that Dean was kind of thrown off a bit.

Dean cleared his throat awkwardly and rubbed at the back of his neck. “Yeah, well, ya know, when in doubt and all that jazz...” Dean left the room before Cas could respond and headed toward the kitchen again. He rifled through the pantry and tried to find a can of tomato soup because they always had at least one can of tomato soup but it wasn’t in here.

Sam materialized once more at his side and Dean straightened, seeming to know what Dean was looking for, Sam held his hands out for the keys and Dean handed them over without a second thought. “Don’t forget the rice.” he reminded, as Sam headed out the front door. Dean sighed and ran a hand through his hair restlessly, looking around for something else to do.

He wandered over to the thermostat and kicked the heat up a few degrees, and then pulled some spare blankets out of the closet that they kind of threw everything in. He rummaged through the bathroom cabinets and under the sink until he found a bag of cough drops. It was only a quarter of the way full and was at least six months old (Dean had picked them up when Sam lost his voice last Summer) but they would have to do. Didn’t they make spray shit that numbs your throat and stops you from coughing? He thought he’d seen a commercial like that once. Maybe he should text Sam to get some of that, too...

A violent cough from across the hall pulled Dean quickly from his thoughts and he quickly wet a washcloth with cool water before opening Cas’ door with full hands once more. He set the cough drops next to the tea, and put the stack of blankets at the end of the bed, shaking one out and draping it over Cas’ shivering body.

He sat next to Cas, facing him, and crossed his legs. “This might feel a little cold,” he warned, indicating the cloth in his hand, "but it’ll help your headache and maybe your fever, too, alright?” Cas nodded, and Dean placed the folded material across Cas’ forehead. Cas winced slightly, his body tensing next to Dean’s, but he relaxed after a moment and forced himself to breathe.

“Are you really that cold, Cas?” His head felt even hotter now than it had earlier. Cas nodded and thought for a moment before explaining.

“Dean, my grace used to burn hotter than anything you could ever imagine. It shone brighter than any star you can think of - hotter and brighter than your sun. This, now, this is nothing. This is cold, and empty, and wrong. I believe that I will never be truly warm again.” He sounded exhausted and kind of sad. But he also sounded like he had long since accepted that fact, and that, Dean thought, was the absolute worst.

Dean realized he was staring and quickly adverted his gaze. “Have you been drinking the tea?” he asked, glancing at the mug. Cas shook his head. “Hurts,” he managed to croak before coughing and wincing in pain.

“That’s why you gotta drink it. It helps, like loosen the muscles or whatever. But it’ll only really work when it’s hot so you’ll wanna finish it soon and then I can make you another cup.” Their eyes met again. “Is your throat, um, just sore? Or is it swollen, too?”

“I don’t know, Dean.” Cas sighed and Dean kicked himself. Here was Cas, having some huge existential crisis and Dean was just sitting here, reminding him of everything he didn’t know. Making him feel even shittier.

“Alright, well, let’s see.” Dean leaned forward and cupped Castiel’s neck in his hands, his fingers moving to feel right under his jaw, lightly pressing and prodding. “You have glands in this area of your throat,” Dean explained, filling the awkward silence, “they are what would swell up if your throat was really swollen. Yours feel a little bit irritated, but definitely not as bad as Sam’s were in July...”

He cut himself off and realized that he was all up in Cas’ personal space. But Cas wasn’t moving. He was staring right back at Dean, his eyes alert and calculating. Dean could feel his shallow breaths against his own chest and his hands were still wrapped around Cas’ neck and Dean was holding his breath and Cas licked his lips and oh, fuck it.

Dean leaned down and gently pulled Cas toward him, Cas allowed it which was more than enough encouragement for Dean and their lips met, moving together shyly and uncertainly and Dammit, Dean why the fuck didn’t you do this sooner? Because this wasn’t heated and it wasn’t rushed. It was tender and it was slow and it was perfect.

Dean pulled away reluctantly and tried to hide the ridiculous grin that threatened to spread across his face but his heart fell into his stomach at Cas’ next words. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

Dean stuttered, trying to think of something to say but Cas interrupted with a slight cock of his head. “It is my understanding that human viruses can spread through contact with other people. Of all the times for our mouths to make contact, this really is the most inconvenient because I am uncertain whether or not I am contagious and-”

Dean shook his head, laughed, and put a stop to Cas’ voice with his own lips because, wow, okay, we’re actually doing this now. When they broke apart again, neither one bothered trying to hide their smiles. “I don’t think there has ever been a better time.” Dean said and, okay, that was a major introduction into a chick flick moment but Cas just pulled a hand out from within his blanket cocoon and wrapped it around Dean’s wrist. His fingers were warm against Dean’s pulse.

“Hmm. You are very warm.” he mused, with a gleam in his eye, and Dean’s smile widened. He moved to toe off his boots and without any further encouragement needed, he slid under the blankets, lifting his arm over Cas’ shoulders as Cas threaded their legs together and pressed his face into Dean’s neck, his arms curling around Dean’s chest. Everything is his head was screaming “perfect” as he pressed a kiss to Cas’ hair and rubbed his hand down the angel’s arm. “Get some sleep, Cas.”

Cas hummed and pressed his lips lightly against Dean’s throat in response. His breath tickled Dean’s skin but it quickly evened and deepened, and Dean knew he was asleep.

There was the opening of a door, the rustle of plastic bags and the jingle of keys that told Dean Sam had finally returned from the store. He heard Sam’s footsteps near the bedroom before he opened the door, poking his head inside. He gave Dean a knowing look and raised his eyebrows. “Shut up, bitch.” Dean whispered, tightening Cas in his arms. Sam just smirked and winked before closing the door again.

Dean kind of mentally shrugged before allowing himself to relax into the mattress. His last thought before drifting off to sleep was that when they woke, he would have to make Cas a brand new cup of tea, because that herbal shit does no good when it’s cold.


End file.
